


Those Who Cannot Hear the Drums

by brainofck



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M, ecstatic dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-27
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-24 20:10:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brainofck/pseuds/brainofck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To those who cannot hear the drums, the drummer seems mad…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Those Who Cannot Hear the Drums

**Author's Note:**

> I originally marked this as G, but Zats said that it was only G in "the strictest sense" so I changed it to Teen.

The wise woman told him the dance was like playing drums all around him. In the sky with his hands, in the earth with his feet, around him in the trees and stones with his hips and knees and elbows and shoulders and then with his hands again in all directions.

"To those who cannot hear the drums," she told him, "the drummer seems mad – driven insane by the ecstasy of the dance."

The sweat was rolling off of him. It flew in droplets from his hair as he rolled his head from side to side in rhythm with the pounding drums. His feet beat upon the earth or kicked out into the drums on either side of him. He arched backwards, seeking the drums behind his shoulders. His hips undulated, finding the responding throbbing in all the world around him. He reached high into the sky…

"Daniel, what the _hell_ are you doing?!?!"

Daniel whirled, startled, blinking at Teal'c and Jack standing in the doorway of the gym. Jack had his helmet and gloves on, ready for another boxing session with his most ~~frustrating~~ amusing opponent.

Daniel's face flooded hot in embarrassment to be caught. He went to the television and the wild, discordant, percussive strings and flutes were shut off with a click. He struggled to bring his rapid breathing under control, willing himself to calm, as he turned to face them again.

"Ecstatic dancing," he replied to Jack's question, still breathless. "Colonel Reynolds suggested I needed more cardio in my workouts."

"Cardio means _running_ , Daniel. Maybe some work on the rowing machine." 

Jack's remarks lacked the usual pointed sting. The sarcasm that belonged there was completely missing. Jack's mouth seemed to be on auto pilot. His eyes were not on Daniel's face at all, and Daniel realized he was looking at Daniel's chest - his smooth, nearly hairless chest, lightly coated with the sheen of his exertions, and right now a droplet from his sweating forehead had freed itself to run down Daniel's neck and over his right pec. He could feel Jack's eyes following it more distinctly than he could feel the tickle of the water against his skin. 

Daniel blinked in surprise at Jack's obvious show of lust. Behind him, Teal'c seemed ruffled, the usually stoic and direct gaze fixed somewhere to Daniel's left. 

With growing confidence, Daniel deliberately turned his back on them, lifting his arms to flex his broad shoulders and strong back as he laced his fingers into his wet hair, pushing it back from his face, fluffing it away from his overheated scalp. He breathed deeply in unaffected relief as cool air followed his fingers. He could feel a pair of rivulets tracking down his back in an asymmetrical pair of streaks that slipped down his spine, lower and lower, until they trickled into the cleft well below his belt. The gazes of Jack and Teal'c following those drops made his skin feel even hotter.

"Aerobic dance is more fun than running," Daniel replied.

He bent to retrieve his shirt from where he had thrown it away, folding deep at the waist, flaunting the flexibility of his hamstrings, knowing the display would not be lost on either of his observers. He knew bending would also pull tight the seat of the BDUs that he had not bothered to change before he began to dance, outlining his slender hips and his buttocks for their view. 

Group showers meant that nearly everyone knew what Daniel had underneath his clothes. He didn't know why they seemed surprised to notice this now. It was probably the effect of partial nudity in an unexpected venue, he mused to himself. Surprise combined with the products of their own imaginations. 

Or maybe they just liked a half-naked soldier with his boots on. Daniel smirked a little to himself while they couldn't see.

He remained more bent over than strictly necessary to remove the trance dance DVD from the set on the low table in the corner.

"Yeah, well, I don't think that was dancing. That looked more like some kind of seizure. I was about to call Fraiser." That sounded like Jack was recovering some of his composure, though the comments still lacked their usual punch.

Daniel turned around and smiled his shyest smile, giving them the baby blues from under salt-moist lashes. It was a shame the full effect was probably lost due to the salt spots on his glasses. "I thought I was the only one around here this late."

"No, DanielJackson. That is not the case. You and I discussed my plans to suggest that O'Neill spar with me in the gym after the return of SG-11. 

"Oh. I guess we did."

He wrapped the DVD in his sweaty shirt and smiled at them again, a lot less shyly this time.

"I need a shower," he stated, brushing just a little too close to them as he passed them where they had stopped almost completely blocking the door. "See you guys later."

Maybe it was madness he thought to himself, still feeling the drums in his sternum and pelvis as he sauntered away down the hall.


End file.
